Sand filter for gas and oil wells



1943- J. E. ECKEL ET AL SAND FILTER FOR GAS AND QIL WELLS Filed March 16, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

1943- J. E. ECKEL ETAL SAND FILTER FOR GAS AND OIL WELLS Filed March 16, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g gf 772g Calif?! INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 12,

. UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE SAND FILTER rj li gs s ann 01L WELLS John E. Eckel and George M. McCarty, Houston Tex., assignors to Standard Oil Development Company, a corporation of Delaware Application March 16, 1940, Serial No. 324,308

1 Claim.

I from the gas sand partic es which are carried up from the gas producing formation.

is the provision of a device of the character described in the form of a readily replaceable car- I tridge.-

In the production of gas from high pressuregas wells the pipe line connected to the gas well contains pressure regulators and flow controls which serve to regulate the pressure on the gas to a value suitable for gas distributing systems and low pressure gas processing equipment. These flow con trols and pressure regulators embody orifices and valves which, although they are usually made of case-hardened steel, are quickly eroded and rendered unfit for service by the abrading effect of sand particles carried from the producing formation by the high pressure gas. When these control elements are rendered inoperative by erosion, the heavy load placed on the subsequent low pressure equipment causes serious damage resulting from blowouts. As a result the control equipment must be carefully supervised and frequently replaced. In many cases the life of a pressure control is only about 20 days, and in some cases, where a high velocity flow is maintained in the gas line, pressure controls have been rendered inoperative in a shorter period than one hour.

According to the present invention the aforesaid difiiculties are substantially eliminated by placing in the flow line from the gas well ahead of the control elements .a filte for removing the sand from the gas. In its broadest aspect this filter is merely a bed of granular material, such as gravel, of suitable size to remove the sand from the gas. In general, the grain size of the filtering material will vary from the size of buckshot to pea size. It is naturally desirable to use the largest possible size of filtering material so as to minimize the pressure drop through the filtering medium. A suitable standard for the maximum grain size of filtering material that may be used may be established by measuringthe size of the sand particles which are carried by the gas and ascertaining the average particle size of the largest ten percent of this sand. A filtering material may then be selected having an average grain size about twelve times hat of the average particle size of the largest ten percent of the sand particles.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which may be easily installed and easily cleaned after it has become choked or clogged with sand.

An additional object of the present invention A further object of the present invention is the provision in a system of the character described of means for abruptly changing the direction of fiow of the gas, said means being composed of ma- I terial not readily abraded by sand particles.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a vertical sect on of one embodiment of a device according to the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of another and the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. l in detail, numeral I designates a pipe connected with a gas producing formation and adapted to be arranged in an upright position. Welded to pipe I in concentric relation therewith is a chamber 2 having an intermediate section 3 of reduced diameter. To the lower end of intermediate section 3 is welded a cylindrical perforated cage 6 which depends into the lower section of chamber 2) To the upper end of intermediate section 3 is welded a second perforated cylindrical cage 5 which extends into the upper end of :hamber 2 and is provided at its upper end, in open communication therewith, with a pipe 6 which protrudes beyond the end of chamber 2 and is provided with a suitable gate valve 1. The upper end of chamber 2 is'provided with a gas drawoff line 8 in which is a valve 9.

Arranged in intermediate section 3 and preferably extending substantially'to the ends of cages 4 and 5 is a perforated pipe l0 having closed ends and provided intermediate its ends with a branch pipe H which passes through the wall of intermediate section 3 and is provided with a gate valve l2.

Chamber 2 on either side of intermediate section 3 is provided with a plug l3 to accommodate a pressure gauge. In the lower end of chamber 2 at a point below the open end of pipe I is an open-ended pipe l4 passing through the wall of chamber 2 and provided, outside said chamber, with a gate valve I 5.

In use, intermediate section 3 and cages 8 and 5 are filled with granular material, such as gravel, of a size suitable for filtering out sand from the gas, said size being selected as heretofore indicated. The perforations in pipe III are usually somewhat larger than the grain size of the filtering material. The filtering material is introduced into the system through pipe 6. With valves 1, l2 and I! in closed position and valve '9 pen. t e gas is fed through the. system. when thepressure drop across the intermediate section becomes sumciently great to indicate that the filtering medium is clogged with-sand, valve-,9

is closed and valve I is opened. This tends to build up pressure in the lower section 0 chambar 2 and causes gas to pass out thro gh pipe I at a high velocity, carrying out with it am! valve 1 is opened, and the intermediate section and the cages are again filled with filtering material after which valve 1 is closed and valve 9 is opened to put the system again in operation.

In Fig; 2 is shown the preferred embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment of the filtering device is arranged in a horizontal position, as distinguished from the vertical position of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. Numeral l6 in this figure designates the pipe connected with the gas producing formation. Threaded or welded to the end of pipe I 6 is. a heavy flange l1 carrying an elongated chamber 3 concentric with pipe l6. To the other end of chamber I8 is threaded or welded a flange I9. A similar flange 20 is threaded or welded to one end of a second chamber 2| arranged in line with chamber 18 and having fixed to its other end a pipe 22 for conveying the gas to the control devices, such as pressure controls and flow regulators. Each of the adjacent faces of flanges I9 and 20 is provided with an annular groove 23, which grooves are adapted to coincide. The flanges are provided with bolts 24 for drawing them together.

Seated in the grooves 23 is a ring 25 of softer material than the flanges l9 and 20. This ring carries a transverse web 26 which has a central opening through which passes a perforated tube 21, one end of which protrudes a short distance into chamber 2| and is provided with a collar 28 and the other end of which protrudes into chamber 18 and is substantially coextensive therewith. Threaded onto the latter end of tube 21 is a cap 29 which is provided with'a seat to receive one end of a perforated tube 30 of larger diameter than tube 21. The other end of tube 30 is pressed against web 26 by cap 29. The annular space between tubes 21 and 39 is filled with filtering material of the character hereinbefore described.

The free face of cap 29 is provided with a recess 3| which is substantially filled with a plug of soft material 32, such as lead, zinc or a suitable alloy. The exposed face of this soft material is adjacent the inlet end of pipe l6 and preferably'given a configuration such as to abruptly change the direction of flow of gas introduced into pipe II. The sand in the gas will not abrade this soft material, but will be embedded in it until a sand surface is formed after which no abrasion will take place. The sharp reversal of direction of the flow of the gas causes a large amount of the sand to drop out of it. This expedient of itself serves to substantially increase the life of control devices arranged in the line behind it, but for optimum performance the filtering arrangement is used in conjunction with The wall of chamber I8 is provided with suit-' able outlets 331 each of which carries a valve 34. These outlets may be arranged as desired along chamber l8, and there may be as many of them as desired.

-In the use of the device of Fig. 2, parts-32 are assembled as a unit with filtering material,

- arranged between tubes 21 and 30. This unit is then introduced into chambers Iii-2 I, as shown, and flanges l3 and 20 are firmly clamped on ring 25. With all valves 34 closed, the gas flow is started through the system. From time to time valve 35 in outlet line 22 is closed and valves 34 -are opened to permit sand collected in chamber l8 to be blown out by the gas introduced through line I8. When the pressure in the system indicates that the annular space between tubes 21 and I 3 is clogged with sand, the assembly of parts 25-32 may be removed as a unit and repacked with fresh filtering material.

It is to be understood that the above described embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to define its limits. Various changes in' the embodiments shown will occur to those skilled in the art, and such changes are contemplated within the scope of the appended claim.

The nature and objects and the present inventionhaving been thus defined and illustrated, what is new and useful and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a flow line for gas carrying abrasive particles, a chamber arranged in said line, composed of two separable sections, a partition between said sections, a gas inlet in one of said sections, a gas outlet in the other of said sections, a perforated tube passing through said partition and extending toward said gas inlet, a cap carried by said tube, a perforated shell carried by said cap in such a way as to form an annular space between said shell and said tube, filtering material in said annular space, a recess in the free end of said cap arranged in juxtaposition to said gas inlet, and a lining of abrasion resistant material in said recess.

JOHN E. ECKEL.

GEORGE M. McCAR'I'Y. 

